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Well, it is that time of year again. My Twitter and Facebook feeds are about to be inundated with the progress of various NaNoWriMo projects coming to life throughout the world. If you’ve followed me for a while, or if you just happen to know me in “real life,” you know that I’m generally not a fan of NaNoWriMo. As a writer who struggles epically with actually completing projects, I get severely annoyed at those people who’ve never once mentioned having even the smallest desire to write that all of a sudden decide “Hey, I’m going to write a novel this month.” Like it’s easy. Like anyone who can type can do it.

But, hypocritical as it is, this year I’m finding myself tempted to participate. Having written the picture book I’ve been meaning to write for some time now (see this blog), my desire to finally complete the young adult novel I’ve been working on for years has become overwhelming. Perhaps a gimmick like NaNoWriMo is exactly the motivation I need to push myself to the finish line. I need that daily reminder saying “Just do this much, and you’re that much closer.” My life is generally too overwhelming for me to have the self-discipline to do so myself, and without a doubt I work better under pressure.

Now, technically, you’re not supposed to use NaNoWriMo to work on projects you’ve already started. It’s supposed to be a newborn idea brought to fruition in the span of one month. To which I say, who bloody cares? I don’t want to start a new novel. I want to finish MY novel. And NaNoWriMo might be just what I need to do it.

4 Responses to “A Dive into Hypocrisy”

I think this is a wise idea. I think that whatever helps you to complete your book, I’m all for it. (I WANT TO READ IT. *ahem* Sorry, where was I?)

Chuck Wendig is famous for saying (rough paraphrase): writing is when you make the words. Editing is when you make the words not shitty. First drafts, at their core, aren’t meant to be perfect. They’re meant to be a beginning, a framework, a starting point. I used to hate revising, but now? I’ve been to see the wisdom and potential in it.

Anyway, my point is this: you are awesome. You can do this. Don’t make me get out the pom-poms. BECAUSE I WILL.

Try it out. Part of the lure of Nanowrimo is the fact that people who’ve never written a novel suddenly CAN. That’s the whole point of it – just to get people to do the crazy impossible. (and hey, I usually work on previous projects for Nano – people don’t care all that much at all.)